In the wake of a chaotic Wednesday that saw several concerning injuries, a concerning in-game and postgame meltdown from a reliever that led to a DFA and the always-concerning players-only meeting, the Mets were in desperate need of not just a breath of life but of stability.
Which made a series of step-ups from some of the most veteran members of the club a rare, hopeful sign in a season that has been a struggle.
Francisco Lindor’s bat gave the Mets a chance.
Pete Alonso ignored a bruised right hand and came off the bench to jump-start a late rally.
And J.D. Martinez’s blast put the finishing touches on a 3-2 comeback win over the Diamondbacks in a series-opener in front of 20,926 at Citi Field on Thursday.
The Mets (23-33) halted a three-game skid and hope they have pulled up from an all-out plummet.
The win was just their second in the past 10 games and fifth in their past 20.
They had not won a series-opener since all the way back on May 6 in St. Louis.
They are 1-0, though, since Lindor surveyed the team and realized they needed to talk.
“It felt good to contribute to a team win,” Lindor said after calling a meeting one day and going 4-for-4 the next. “This is not about being the main character of calling a team meeting. That’s not what it’s about. Anyone could have had a good night tonight and I would’ve been happy.”
Martinez called the closed-door session Wednesday “one of the better meetings” the 14-year vet has been in.
“Let’s start having fun again and start enjoying this,” Martinez, whose eighth-inning, dead-center homer became the game-winner, said of the primary message. “If we lose, we lose. … Turn off the pressure. It doesn’t exist. I said in the meeting: ‘No one thinks we’re going to win 100 games this year.’
“We have no pressure on us.”
The Mets were trailing, 2-1, and struggling against a series of Arizona relievers — starter Zac Gallen was removed with a hamstring strain while facing his second batter of the game — before launching their rally starting in the seventh.
Alonso, whose imaging came back negative a day after he was forced out of the game after his hand was drilled, pinch hit for Brett Baty.
The first baseman successfully convinced his manager he could play, then successfully stroked a double down the third-base line.
With two outs, Lindor roped an RBI single into right field to tie it.
Lindor had gotten the Mets on the board with a third-inning home run.
He consistently gestured to the dugout with fist-pumps after big hits, trying to spark the club any way he could.
“Pretty impressive,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of his shortstop, who extended a nine-game hitting streak in which he has posted a 1.030 OPS. “It says a lot about who he is and how much he wants it.”
“That’s what great leaders do,” added Christian Scott, who was solid in five, two-run innings.
The Mets made three runs stand up because their undermanned bullpen turned in a gem.
Adrian Houser, Danny Young and Reed Garrett (third save) pitched four scoreless innings in which they did not let up a hit.
The Mets’ bullpen has been a weak spot in the past few weeks, likely because of overuse, and has never appeared more vulnerable than right now.
Without the injured Edwin Diaz and the formerly reliable Jorge Lopez, whose meltdown Wednesday led to his exit from the team, the Mets pieced together innings six through nine.